ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Defence
REAR ADMIRAL SANJAY BHALLA TAKES OVER AS EASTERN FLEET COMMANDER
Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla took over the Command of the Eastern Fleet, the Sword Arm of the Eastern Naval Command, from Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, VSM on 20 December 21. The change of guard took place at an impressive ceremony held at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.
Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1989 and is a specialist in Communication and Electronic Warfare. The Flag Officer is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington; College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai and Royal College of Defence Studies, London.
During his illustrious career spanning 33 years, he served onboard several capital ships as Signal Communication Officer. His sea commands include those of missile vessel INS Nishank, anti-submarine warfare frigate INS Taragiri and guided-missile frigate INS Beas.
His prestigious staff and operational appointments include those as Training Commander at the Indian Naval Academy, Director at Maritime Doctrine and Concepts Centre and Naval Assistant to the Chief of Naval Staff. He also served as the Naval Adviser at the High Commission of India, Islamabad. Prior to assuming command of the Eastern Fleet, the Flag Officer was Assistant Chief of Personnel  at Integrated Headquarters , New Delhi.
Over the past 10 months, the Eastern Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti has maintained a high level of combat readiness and undertaken various operational missions including Operation Samudra Setu II towards the transfer of medical oxygen, Mission Sagar for providing humanitarian assistance to friendly foreign countries and multilateral maritime exercise Malabar 21 in Western Pacific off Guam. Rear Admiral Sobti would be taking over as the Director General, Project Seabird at Integrated Headquarters , New Delhi shortly on promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral.
CGR/VM/PS
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Prime Minister's Office
Start-ups are playing a crucial role in making India self-reliant: PM Modi
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi praised the contribution of India startups towards Aatamnirbharta during corona crisis. He was addressing ‘Prarambh: Startup India International Summit’ today via video conferencing.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister pointed out that 45 per cent startups are in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, working as the brand ambassadors of the local products. Every state is supporting and incubating startups as per local possibilities and 80 percent of districts of the country are now part of the Startup India mission. The Prime Minister pointed out new possibilities in food and agriculture area as people are becoming more aware about their diet. India has paid special attention to the growth of these sectors as an Agri Infra Fund has been created with a capital base of one Lakh crore. With these new avenues, startup are collaborating with farmers and playing a significant role in taking products from farm to table with better ease and quality.
The Prime Minister underlined their contribution in the Aatmnirbharta during the Corona crisis. Startups played a major role in ensuring availability of sanitizers, PPE kits and related supply chains. They played a sterling role in meeting local needs like grocery, medicine delivery at doorstep, transportation of frontline workers and online study material. The Prime Minister appreciated the startup spirit of finding opportunity in adversity and the way they infused confidence during calamity.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
SHELTER HOMES FOR WIDOWS
The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing the Swadhar Greh Scheme revised with effect from 1st April 2016. The Scheme caters to primary needs of women in difficult circumstances – women and girls rendered homeless due to family discord, crime, violence, mental stress, social ostracism or are being forced into prostitution and are in moral danger. Through the provisions of shelter, food, clothing, counselling, training, clinical and legal aid, the Scheme aims to rehabilitate such women in difficult circumstance economically and emotionally.
The Ministry has constructed Home for Widows, namely, 'Krishna Kutir' at Vrindavan, Mathura in Uttar Pradesh which can accommodate 1000 widows. The home is fully funded by the Ministry. It aims to provide the widows a safe and secure place of stay, health services, nutritious food, legal and counselling services. This Home was inaugurated on 31.08.2018 and it is the largest shelter home for widows in the country. The capacity of residents in ‘Krishna Kutir’ is 1000 and present occupancy is 140.
Most of the Swadhar Grehs are running in the rented buildings. One Swadhar Greh in Madhya Pradesh and three, including one Krishna Kutir, have been constructed in Uttar Pradesh.
Swadhar Grehs do not have low occupancy, which stands at 76.2% at all India level during 2021-22. Under the new Mission Shakti, it is envisaged to revise the Scheme guidelines to make them more useful for the beneficiaries and spread awareness about these homes through the National Hub for Empowerment of Women.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
SCI’s All-Women Crew of MT Swarna Krishna Makes History
Shri Mansukh Mandaviya flags-off the all women crew run SCI tanker
An attempt to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of women in breaking down the stereotypes in this erstwhile male dominated field of Maritime Sector
The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd., as a part of its ongoing Diamond Jubilee celebrations and also to commemorate the International Women’s Day on 8th March, 2021 achieved another feat when Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State  for Ports, Shipping & Waterways, virtually flagged off the “All Women Officers’ Sailing” on MT Swarna Krishna – SCI’s product carrier from JNPT Liquid Berth Jetty on 6th March 2021.
This is the first time in the world Maritime History that a ship is being sailed by all women officers.
Shri Mansukh Mandaviya acknowledged the contribution and sacrifice of the women seafarers who acted as the Indian ambassadors to the global maritime community and had made the nation proud. Smt. H.K. Joshi, CMD, SCI, spoke of the unabated and relentless pursuit of SCI to realize the ‘paradigm shift’ in the maritime sector which has recognized and honoured the ‘empowered womanhood’ in our seafaring women who have dared, endeavoured and sacrificed to achieve it. Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary , Shri Sanjay Sethi, Chairman, JNPT, Shri Rajiv Jalota, Chairman, MbPT and Shri Amitabh Kumar, DG Shipping attended the ceremony virtually and commended the efforts of the women seafarers.
The move demonstrated the gradual shift in the perception of seafaring as a male-oriented profession and the principles of Diversity & Inclusion that SCI upholds. SCI has been a pioneer in employing women seafarers onboard its vessels and has implemented various initiatives including age relaxations and fee concessions to aspiring female cadets through its Maritime Training Institute to promote their integration into the maritime sector. SCI had in the last year been recognized by the NUSI as the Shipping Company employing the highest number of women seafarers and had also been conferred with several awards as an acknowledgement for efforts in promoting Diversity & Equality in the Maritime Sector.
Being in consonance with the theme for International Women’s Day, 8 March 2021 , viz. “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, as well as the IMO theme for the year 2019 – “Empowering women in the Maritime Community”, the All Women Officers’ Sailing is an attempt to acknowledge the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping an equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, while celebrating the many accomplishments by the women in breaking down the stereotypes in this erstwhile male dominated field.
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Ministry of Law and Justice
Press Communique
In exercise of the power conferred by clause  of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Biswadeep Bhattacharjee, Advocate as an Additional Judge of the Meghalaya High Court for a period of two years with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s Case Fatality Rate  continues to improve and is 2.28%
Total Recoveries cross 9 lakh
More than 30,000 Recoveries/day for 4th Successive Day
The focused efforts of Centre and State/UT governments on early detection and isolation through aggressive testing and efficient clinical management of hospitalized cases have shown results with continuously falling Case Fatality Rate and improving Recovery Rate.
With effective containment strategy, aggressive testing and standardized clinical management protocols based on holistic Standard of Care approach, the Case Fatality Rate has significantly dipped. The Case Fatality Rate is progressively falling and currently, it is 2.28%. India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world.
Continuing the streak of more than 30,000 recoveries per day for the 4th successive day, 31,991 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours. This has taken the total recoveries beyond 9 lakh and the number currently stands at 9,17,567. The Recovery Rate is 64%.
As a result of low mortality and more people recovering, the recovered cases exceed the active cases  by 4,32,453 today. Medical attention continues to be provided to all active cases in hospitals and home settings.
For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.
Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19[at]gov[dot]in and other queries on ncov2019[at]gov[dot]in and @CovidIndiaSeva .
In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 . List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf .
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India’s Cumulative COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 133.88 Cr
Nearly 67 Lakh doses administered in the last 24 hours
Recovery Rate currently at 98.37% is highest since March 2020
5,784 New Cases reported in the last 24 hours
India's Active Caseload  is lowest in 563 days
Weekly Positivity Rate  less than 1% for last 30 days
With the administration of 66,98,601vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 133.88 Cr  as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 1,40,27,706sessions.
The break-up of the cumulative figureas per the provisional report till 7 am today include:
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HCWs
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1st Dose
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1,03,85,716
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2nd Dose
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96,07,316
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FLWs
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1st Dose
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1,83,83,175
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2nd Dose
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1,67,05,166
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Age Group 18-44 years
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1st Dose
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47,99,75,178
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2nd Dose
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27,39,51,712
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Age Group 45-59 years
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1st Dose
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18,99,59,003
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2nd Dose
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13,45,40,063
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Over 60 years
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|
1st Dose
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|
11,87,51,430
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2nd Dose
|
|
8,65,53,818
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Total
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1,33,88,12,577
The recovery of7,995 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally of recovered patients  to 3,41,38,763.
Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.37%,highest since March 2020.
Sustained and collaborative efforts by the Centre and the States/UTs continue the trend of less than 15,000 Daily New Cases that is being reported for last 47days now.
5,784 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. This is lowest in 571 days.
India’s Active Caseloadpresently at88,993 is lowest in 563 days.Active cases constitute 0.26% of the country's total Positive Cases, which is lowest since March 2020.
The testing capacity across the country continues to be expanded. The last 24 hours saw a total of 9,50,482tests being conducted. India has so far conducted over65.76 Cr  cumulative tests.
While testing capacity has been enhanced across the country, Weekly Positivity Rate at 0.68% remains less than 1% for the last 30 days now. The Daily Positivity rate reported to be0.58%. The daily Positivity rate has remained below2% for last 71 days and below 3% for 106 consecutive days now.
Ministry of Home Affairs
WARB MEETING
Group Centre, CRPF, Pallipuram, Thiruvananthapuram will be organizing the Quarterly meeting of WARB  on 4th April 2022 at 10 am at their Group Centre location to address/redress the grievances of retired CAPF/ Assam Rifles personnel. All Retired CAPFs/Assam Rifles personnel of Kerala State may make it convenient to attend the meeting at Group Centre, CRPF, Pallipuram accordingly duly adhering to all the Covid-19 protocols, like wearing masks covering nose and mouth, social distancing, hand hygiene etc.
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Ministry of Home Affairs
E-Visa Scheme
Number of e-visas granted during the last four years are as under:
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Year
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e-Visa Issued
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2015
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5,16,510
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2016
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11,80,933
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2017
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19,01,419
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2018
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24,70,273
E-Visa services are rendered completely online. ETA  under the scheme is being delivered in a time bound manner. In nearly 90% of the cases, e-Visas are processed within 24 hours of the submission of application. A fully equipped 24x7 manned e-Visa support centre is operational to answer application related queries. Difficulties if any, faced by the applicant are attended to promptly. 24x7 Payment Gateway support centre of two banks is also operational to answer relevant queries. A revamped e-Visa website with improved User Interface  has also been launched on 16.05.2019.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai a written reply to question in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
Income limit of Parents of OBC Students
The Government has fixed the income limit of parents of OBC students for availing scholarships from Government under the welfare schemes of OBCs as under:
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Name of the schemes
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Income limit 
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Pre-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students
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2.50 lakh
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Post-Matric Scholarship for OBC Students
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1.50 lakh
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National Fellowship for OBC Students
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No income limit
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Dr. Ambedkar Pre and Post Matric scholarship Scheme for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes .
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2.00 lakh
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Dr. Ambedkar Post-Matric Scholarship for EBC Students
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1.00 lakh
The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment after careful consideration and in consultation with various Ministries and Stake-holders has fixed the income limit of parents of OBC Students
The schemes for welfare of OBC, EBC & DNT's are up to financial year 2019-20. Any change in income limit of the parents of OBC and other students is considered at the time of continuation & revision of the scheme.
This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
EPFO issues Directions for timely credit of monthly Pension to EPS Pensioners
EPFO is disbursing monthly pension to more than 65 Lakh pensioners every month under the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.
Due to the corona virus pandemic, lock down has been declared in various parts of the country. In order to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the pensioners on account of the prevalent situation, Central Provident Fund Commissioner has directed the field offices of EPFO to generate and reconcile pensioners’ details and pension amount statements for the current month by 25th March, 2020. He further directed that the same should be forwarded to the banks in advance so that the monthly pension is credited into the account of the pensioners in time i.e. during the month of March itself.
Ministry of Earth Sciences
3 Day International Conference and Exhibition On Energy and Environment to be inaugurated by President of India.
Both the energy and environment sectors today are at a critical juncture. The rapid expansions of both these sectors are necessary for inclusive growth of the world. At the same time the effects of these growth on the environment, landmass, forest inhabitants, etc. need to be simultaneously addressed.
In this milieu, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad is organizing an International Conference and Exhibition on Energy and Environment - Challenges and Opportunities , from 20th to 22nd February 2019 in New Delhi. The 3 day conference aims to deliberate and identify the R&D needs to innovate new techniques, technologies and applications for clean, safe, symbiotic sustenance of society, environment, energy and industries in post-2020 era.
The conference will be inaugurated by the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind and will have keynote addresses by Union Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Member, NITI Aayog Dr. V. K. Saraswat and DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR Dr Shekhar C Mande.
Around 1000 delegates from India and abroad will participate in the conference representing policy makers, regulators, thought leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, administrators, practicing engineers, Environmentalist, geo-environmentalists, researchers, academicians and technocrats. The startups, young researchers and students will also attend the conference.
About 200 papers will be deliberated in the Conference which will includes 9 keynote papers and 150 oral presentations and 50 poster presentations.Delegates from countries like, UK, Australia, China, Republic of Korea, Czech Republic, Germany, USA, Japan, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria etc. are expected to participate in the event.
The keynote papers will be presented by eminent personalities who have made significant contributions in their respective areas. The list include Dr. V. K. Saraswat, Member , NITI Aayog on Energy Security and Environmental Challenges; Dr. Anil Kakodkar, President, NASI on Nuclear Power: India's Development Imperative; Prof. Y. P. Chugh, University of Illinois, USA on The Evolving Role of Coal in Global Energy Needs: An Overview; Prof. Joan Esterle, University of Queensland, Australia on A supermodel approach to targeting CBM resources; Dr. S.C. Chetal, Mission Director, AUSC Project on Indian Advanced Ultra Supercritical Programme; Prof. Collin Hills, University of Greenwich, UK on Low-carbon Options for the Valorisation of Indian Steel Slag.
During the Conference, an industrial exhibition is also organized in the Vigyan Bhawan lawns and which will run in parallel with the technical sessions from February 20-22, 2019. Various PSUs and multinationals have booked fifty  stalls to showcase their Company’s profile and to network with global participants from the Industry, for its suppliers and its customers. The list includes, National Thermal Power Corporation, Coal India Limited, Insmart Systems, National Mineral Development Corporation, AIMIL Pvt. Ltd., Hindustan Zinc Ltd. Etc.
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
Payroll Reporting in India – A Formal Employment Perspective
The National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the press note on Employment Outlook of the country covering the period September, 2017 to October, 2020 based on the administrative records available with selected government agencies to assess the progress in certain dimensions. A detailed note is annexed.
A detailed note is annexed
Ministry of Railways
Railway takes many steps to help apprentices
As per Apprentice Act in 2016, Railways reserve 20% vacancies  for apprentices in 1,03,769 notified vacancies for level-1 recruitment currently under process
As per Apprentice Act in 2016, Indian Railways has reserved 20% vacancies  for apprentices in 1,03,769 notified vacancies for level-1 recruitment currently under process.
Recently there have been news reports that the trained apprentices at Railway establishments are demanding regular appointment.
Apprentices are demanding this by asking for restoration of the earlier powers given to GMs which was discontinued in Mar 2017.
It may be noted that regular appointment without any open competition as being demanded by the some will be against the Constitutional provisions and GOI rules about regular recruitment. All eligible citizens of country are entitled to compete and apply for the regular jobs. Direct recruitment without any open competition is against the rules.
Further, as per the amendment made in Apprentice Act in 2016, every employer has to make a policy of appointment of Act Apprentices trained in their establishment. Keeping this in view, Railways has kept 20% vacancies in Level 1 recruitment for such apprentices and give fair opportunity to all.
Position of engagement of Act Apprentices as per extant rule, Railways engages apprentices for providing training in their establishments. As per Section 22  of Act Apprentices Act, 1961 amended on 22nd Dec, 2014 provides that, ‘Every employer shall formulate its own policy for recruiting any apprentice who has completed the period of apprenticeship training in his establishment’. In compliance with the above, instructions have been issued vide Railway Board’s letter No.EII/2016/RR-1/8 dated 21.06.2016, providing that 20% of the vacancies in case of direct recruitment to posts/categories in Level-1 shall be filled by giving preference to Course Completed Act Apprentices  trained in Railway establishments. During 2018, RRBs have recruited 1288 apprentices in Level-1 posts. Further, 20% vacancies  have been kept reserved for apprentices in 1,03,769 notified vacancies for level-1 recruitment currently under process.
It may be noted that RRBs has issued three centralized employment notifications . CEN 01/2019 , CEN 03/2019  and RRC-01/2019  have been issued for a total of about 1.4 lakh vacancies for various categories of staff by Railway Recruitment Boards . Against these employment notifications, more than 2.40 crore candidates have applied. Ministry of Railways have made requisite preparations for smooth conduct of Computer Based Test  which is scheduled from 15th Dec. 2020 onwards as notified earlier. The details of schedule of the CBTs will be uploaded on websites of RRBs in due course separately for these employment notifications.